An average of 67,892 people visited Maui per day in January, which is a 17.6 percent increase when compared to 57,743 daily visitors in January 2022, according to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Although full economic recovery in Hawaii may take a few more years, the slow recovery of tourism fueled by increased spending from Mainland and international travelers will boost business in 2023. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Maui was the only Neighbor Island county in January that didn’t see higher numbers of visitors compared to before the pandemic, though it wasn’t far off as the state overall moved closer to recovery, according to preliminary tourism data.  

There were 228,743 visitors to Maui in January, a 24.8 percent increase from January 2022 when there were 183,278 visitors to the Valley Isle, but down 2 percent from the same month in 2019 when there were 233,422 visitors. 

Visitor spending was up 47.3 percent at $625.2 million in January compared to the $424.5 million spent at the same time last year and up 31.8 percent when compared to the $474.2 million spent in January 2019. 

Maui had an average of 67,892 visitors on island per day in January, which is a 17.6 percent increase when compared to 57,743 daily visitors in January 2022. But this is a 2.8 percent drop from the 69,854 average reported in January 2019.

Although full economic recovery in Hawaii may take a few more years, the slow recovery of tourism fueled by increased spending from Mainland and international travelers will boost business this year for those who rely on the industry, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. 

A total of 791,781 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian islands in January, which is up 37.9 percent from January 2022. When compared to 2019, the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it represents a massive 96.8 percent recovery in total visitor arrivals. 

These visitors spent $1.89 billion in January compared to $1.4 billion (an increase of 35.5 percent) in January 2022 and $1.62 billion (an increase of 17.2 percent) in January 2019.

“The tourism industry had a good start in 2023 with nearly a 97 percent recovery in arrivals,” DBEDT Director Chris J. Sadayasu said in a news release. 

Unsurprisingly, Oahu saw the most visitors in January among all the islands. There were 435,833 visitors in January, which is up 57.2 percent when compared to the 277,228 people who visited the island in January 2022, but down nearly 11 percent compared to the 488,441 visitors in January 2019. 

Visitor spending was up all around, though. In January, visitors spent $751.2 million while on Oahu, an increase of 32.5 percent compared to the $566.7 million spent in January 2022 and 7.3 percent compared to the $700.2 million in January 2019 prior to the pandemic. 

The average daily census on Oahu was 112,552 visitors in January. This is up nearly 44 percent from the 78,394 visitors in January 2022 but down 3.3 percent compared to the 116,417 visitors in January 2019.

Hawaii island hosted 148,376 visitors in January compared to the 110,697 visitors in January 2022, a 34 percent increase. This is also a slight increase of 0.7 percent from the 147,402 visitors in January 2019. 

Like the rest of the state, visitor spending was up 10.4 percent on Hawaii island at $260.1 million compared to the $235.6 million spent in January 2022 and up 2.7 percent from the $253.3 million in January 2019. 

The average daily census in January was 45,404 visitors, a 20 percent increase compared to the 37,823 visitors during the same month last year and a 6.7 percent increase from the 42,548 visitors in 2019.

Kauai saw the fewest amount of visitors in the state at 106,980 in January. This is still a 26.1 percent increase for the island compared to the 84,828 visitors that came in January 2022 and a slight increase of 0.8 percent in 2019 when 106,142 people came to Kauai. 

The average daily census on Kauai was 29,372 visitors in January, a 14.9 percent increase compared to the 25,554 visitors in January 2022, but a small drop of 1.4 percent compared to the 29,784 visitors in 2019 prior to the pandemic.

Still, folks spent 45.6 percent more during their trip, totaling $234.6 million in January compared to the $161.1 million in January 2022. This is also a 32.9 percent increase from January 2019 when visitors spent $176.5 million.

“As global travel is rebalanced and restored in the years ahead, it’s imperative that we maintain our proactive presence and communication in our key markets to amplify our statewide message of malama Hawaii for the well-being of our community,” Hawaii Tourism Authority President John De Fries said in a news release. 

Hawaii’s visitor industry and the state’s economic recovery continued to be driven primarily by increased spending among visitors from the U.S. West and U.S. East, followed by the steady recovery of key international visitor markets. 

Total visitor spending from Canada in January nearly approached January 2019 levels, while total spending from the Japanese market continued to improve.

U.S. West visitors spent $804.4 million in January 2023, up 14 percent compared to $705.6 million in January 2022 and up 44.5 percent from $556.7 million in January 2019. 

U.S. East visitors spent $618.9 million in January 2023, compared to $529.4 million (up 16.9 percent) in January 2022 and $462.9 million (up 33.7 percent) in January 2019. 

International visitors by air in January accounted for 23 percent of the total visitors by air – the highest since the start of the pandemic, Sadayasu said. 

January was the second-best month for arrivals from Japan and Canada for 34 months, too. The same was true for cruise ship arrivals during the month.

“With the recovery of tourism, especially international tourism, those businesses that rely on international visitors will experience a better year in 2023, although full recovery may take a few years,” Sadayasu said.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

An average of 67,892 people visited Maui per day in January, which is a 17.6 percent increase when compared to 57,743 daily visitors in January 2022, according to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Although full economic recovery in Hawaii may take a few more years, the slow recovery of tourism fueled by increased spending from Mainland and international travelers will boost business in 2023. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

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